Del Castillo vs. Orciga, 500 SCRA 498, G.R. No.

153850 August 31, 2006

Facts:

Petitioner Jovendo del Castillo is the son and administrator of Menardo del Castillo, who previously
owned a 13,300-hectare riceland located at Omabo, Polpog, Bula, Camarines Sur. The farmland was
formerly cultivated by Eugenio Orciga.

Pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 27 (PD No. 27),5 Eugenio Orciga became the beneficiary of the Land
Transfer Program of the government during his lifetime. He was awarded Certificate of Land Transfer
No. 0-070176 over the said landholding on April 3, 1981.

On August 1, 1988, Eugenio Orciga died. However, prior to the final selection and determination of the
successor of the deceased tenant, on July 1, 1991, the heirs agreed to rotate among themselves the
cultivation of the riceland covered by said CLT.

After cultivating and harvesting the riceland from 1989 to 1991, Ronald Orciga (one of the heirs)
abandoned the said farm on May 3, 1991, and eventually left the barrio without turning over the land-
owner’s share of the agricultural harvest.

On May 28, 1991, fully armed with guns, petitioner del Castillo—a member of the CAFGU (Citizens
Armed Forces Geographical Unit)—forcibly entered the riceland of the late Eugenio Orciga. He started to
cultivate the said land over the objection of the respondents, effectively ejecting them from their
possession and cultivation of the land.

The Respondents filed a Complaint on June 10, 1991, with Office of Provincial Adjudicator, DARAB, Naga
City. DARAB ruled in favor of Orciga. On motion for reconsideration, DARAB placed the disposition of the
subject landholding with the DAR. Del Castillo filed for a motion for reconsideration but was denied. He
appealed to the CA.

The appellate court concluded that petitioner del Castillo had no right to take possession of the
farmland being disputed even if the heirs had failed to deliver the agricultural lessor’s share. It held that
when the beneficiary abandons the tillage or refuses to gain rights accruing to the farmer-beneficiary
under the law, it will be reverted to the government and not to the farm lot owner.

Issue: Who should be entitled to possess the disputed landholding under the DAR Land Transfer
Program—the petitioner, as representative of the former titled land or the respondents who are
successors of the deceased beneficiary?

Ruling: Respondents (Orcigas)

Petitioner del Castillo asserts that restoring the possession of the riceland to the respondents would be
prejudicial to the interest of Menardo del Castillo, the former landowner, due to the unjustified
abandonment of said landholding by Ronald Orciga, the designated successor of the beneficiary,
Eugenio Orciga. He also argues that his father, Menardo del Castillo, is still entitled to just and full
compensation of the riceland which, at the time the case was originally filed before the Office of the
Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator of Camarines Sur, had not been paid by Eugenio Orciga.
Furthermore, he claims that because of the respondents’ pending payment of the amortizations, he
should still be considered the owner of the Riceland.
Undeniably, Eugenio Orciga, the original beneficiary and predecessor-in-interest of respondents, was
awarded Certificate of Land Transfer No. 0070176 over the contested land pursuant to PD No. 27.
Therefore, for all intents and purposes, he is the acknowledged owner of the contested land.

A Certificate of Land Transfer (CLT) is a document issued to a tenant-farmer, which proves inchoate
ownership of an agricultural land primarily devoted to rice and corn production. It is issued in order for
the tenant-farmer to acquire the land. This certificate prescribes the terms and conditions of ownership
over said land and likewise describes the landholding——its area and its location. A CLT is the
provisional title of ownership over the landholding while the lot owner is awaiting full payment of the
land’s value or for as long as the beneficiary is an “amortizing owner.”

Petitioner’s asseveration that he is still entitled to possess and cultivate said farmland does not hold
water under PD No. 27 and Executive Order No. 228 (EO No. 228).

PD No. 27 took effect on October 21, 1972 while EO No. 228 became effective on July 17, 1987.

The said decree provides that the tenant-farmer should be a full-fledged member of a duly recognized
farmer’s cooperative. If the private agricultural land is primarily devoted to rice and corn under a system
of share-a-crop or lease tenants, the tenant-farmer shall be a “deemed owner” of a portion constituting
a family-size farm of five (5) hectares, if not irrigated and three (3) hectares, if irrigated.

To determine the cost of the land to be transferred to the tenant-farmer under PD No. 27, the value of
the land shall be equivalent to two and one half (2 1/2) times the average harvest of three normal crop
years. The cost of the land, including interest at the rate of six (6) per centum per annum, shall be paid
by the tenant in fifteen (15) years of fifteen (15) equal annual amortizations. Then, the landholding is
transferred by the Department of Agrarian Reform to the tenant-farmer, and a CLT is issued to him;
thereafter, the tenant-farmer starts to pay the amortizations to the land-owner.

The CLT of Eugenio Orciga was issued on April 3, 1981; thus, he has been the rightful owner of said
farmland by virtue of PD No. 27.